Lauren McFerran Named New Executive Director of AFL-CIO Tech Institute

Former NLRB Chair Will Lead Organization During Critical Debate Over AI Policy Guardrails

February 19, 2026, Washington, DC – The AFL-CIO Technology Institute announced today that Lauren McFerran, former Chair of the National Labor Relations Board, has been named the organization’s new Executive Director, starting on February 23, 2026.

“Lauren McFerran has decades of leadership experience and legal expertise ensuring that every worker is treated fairly under the law,” said Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO and board chair of the Tech Institute. “There’s no better person to lead our next big fight over the future of work—standing up to the unaccountable Big Tech billionaires who are raking in AI profits while threatening good jobs, fueling rampant inequality, and undermining people’s rights. The Tech Institute is our center of gravity to develop meaningful guardrails that protect working people, with the muscle of the labor movement behind it to demand a seat at the table so technology is used to benefit all of us and make our jobs safer and better. We are in good hands with Lauren’s leadership as we prepare for fast-moving technological change and people-centered innovation in our workplaces.”

Working people face enormous challenges as AI-powered technologies are rapidly deploying in most industries and in public services without guardrails or worker protections in place. Workers and unions must be at the center of responding to the rapid transformation of work, with the Tech Institute advancing the strategies and policy proposals that ensure the benefits of new technologies are widely shared and do not lead to dangerous, discriminatory and anti-worker outcomes.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to shepherd the Tech Institute's vital work advancing a technology agenda that centers workers and their unions across the entire innovation ecosystem,” said Lauren McFerran. “This is a watershed moment for working people, when rapid technological change is poised to define the future of millions of jobs. The Tech Institute has a unique and essential role to play in cultivating ideas and policy strategies grounded in the voices and values of workers, the labor movement, and our partners and allies.”

“Lauren brings heft and experience to this job,” said Interim Executive Director Ed Wytkind who will remain a senior advisor. “She has tackled tough and complex issues throughout her career and is poised to accelerate the Tech Institute’s critical work with strategies to build a powerful worker-centered tech and AI agenda.”

Contact: Ed Wytkind at [email protected] or 202-531-8996.

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The AFL-CIO Tech Institute works at the intersection of technological innovation in the workplace, centering worker knowledge, expertise, and interests in our modern innovation-based economy and in public services with the goal of ensuring that technological change creates widespread prosperity for all workers. Learn more about the Tech Institute’s work here and the AFL-CIO’s Workers First AI Principles here.